This was in the hard copy of the June 23 magazine, so I had no link to reference, otherwise I would have.

2minutes twowa

06-22-2008, 08:45 AM

I would agree with one thing from the new SI mock. If the Pacers and Kings pass on Augustine, he probably will fall out of the top 15.

DisplacedKnick

06-22-2008, 09:08 AM

If Gordon drops to ten then he'll drop to us. The Nets don't need him.

Especially if Randolph is on the board.

DGPR

06-22-2008, 09:39 AM

I wouldn't cry if Gordon slipped to us.

2minutes twowa

06-22-2008, 10:49 AM

Especially if Randolph is on the board.

I agree. I would be shocked if they didn't go big with their pick.

rexnom

06-22-2008, 10:53 AM

If Randolph is on the board, I hope to god we pick him over Augustin. Jesus.

Mourning

06-22-2008, 10:56 AM

If Randolph is on the board, I hope to god we pick him over Augustin. Jesus.

Ditto!!!

Bball

06-22-2008, 11:29 AM

A part of me hopes Gordon doesn't drop to the Pacers because I'm not sure they'd take him... and if they don't I'm not sure I want to see/hear/read the fallout.

-Bball

rousea24

06-22-2008, 11:58 AM

We might want to spell DJ's last name right if he's going to be a Pacer...Augustin (no e).

Jose Slaughter

06-22-2008, 12:36 PM

fixed
thanks
sorry

2minutes twowa

06-22-2008, 01:02 PM

We might want to spell DJ's last name right if he's going to be a Pacer...Augustin (no e).

You're right, my aplologies. I doubt it would've been as bad as the career long mispronunciation of Croshere's name, but it's good to nip it in the bud early.:D

Roaming Gnome

06-22-2008, 01:55 PM

A part of me hopes Gordon doesn't drop to the Pacers because I'm not sure they'd take him... and if they don't I'm not sure I want to see/hear/read the fallout.

-Bball

:amen:

I think that could be the equivalent of a P.R. disaster. I think the local media would be out looking for their pound of flesh. Hell, I know that I already had to listen to a diatribe by Eddie White about if Gordon was available there shouldn't be any thought involved.

I'm not sold on Gordon, and and I honestly see why he could slip if you got guys higher on your board.

Infinite MAN_force

06-22-2008, 02:14 PM

There was my own instinct, than T-bird trashed him, than hollinger gave him the lowest rating in the draft class, and still people are high on Randolph.

The guy just has bust written all over him. I thought everyone agreed that the pacers don't need a project big man?

croz24

06-22-2008, 02:44 PM

well, augustin really isn't a top 14 player in this draft imo. he's just not that good. same goes for westbrook. they get overhyped on here because of the pacers glaring weakness at the pg position. and if a team is dumb enough to draft westbrook top 5, let them and just sit back and laugh.

Mr. Sobchak

06-22-2008, 02:56 PM

Augustin is going to be a good player in this league. If Jameer Nelson can be a starting guard on a playoff team why can't Augustin? He is virtually superior to Nelson in every skill.

Edit: If we take him I will be happy because he will be a good player I just think we will need to add a larger more physical guard that can back him up. A Diener/Augustin rotation won't cut it.

JayRedd

06-22-2008, 03:08 PM

You realize Jameer won the Naismith Award right? He's also stronger, (probably) taller and a better athlete.

carpediem024

06-22-2008, 03:09 PM

Augustin MIA? I'd rather have him than Randolph.

Mr. Sobchak

06-22-2008, 03:22 PM

You realize Jameer won the Naismith Award right? He's also stronger, (probably) taller and a better athlete.

Augustin as a sophomore:

PPG APG RPG BPG SPG
19.2 5.8 2.9 0.0 1.2

Nelson as a sophomore:

PPG APG RPG BPG SPG
14.4 6.3 4.8 0.0 1.3

Give Augustin 4 full years and he might have won the Naismith Award as well. He also played in a much harder conference which makes his stats all the more impressive.

You are probably right about Nelson being stronger and (slightly) more athletic but I think Augustin's court vision and quickness are better than Nelsons are.

Infinite MAN_force

06-22-2008, 03:24 PM

Im not a fan of Augustin for this team, but I would also much rather have him than Randolph. At least Agustin will be a decent player at worst.

NapTonius Monk

06-22-2008, 03:25 PM

A part of me hopes Gordon doesn't drop to the Pacers because I'm not sure they'd take him... and if they don't I'm not sure I want to see/hear/read the fallout.

-Bball

For a possible similar reference, see the Miami Dolphins fans response to the drafting of Tedd Ginn Jr. That's about what I'd expect at the draft party if they left Gordon on the board.

Mr. Sobchak

06-22-2008, 03:50 PM

I thought this was an interesting article about Augustin's workout with the blazers..

Joe Alexander was impressive on Tuesday in displaying exceptional athleticism, leaping ability and raw potential. Russell Westbrook made a strong case to become a Blazer last week when he showed better-than expected shooting ability, versatility and athleticism. But I've been to every one of the Blazers' nine workouts thus far and no prospect has revealed a more polished, NBA-ready game than D.J. Augustin did today.

Let me be transparent. The media has had limited and inconsistent access to workouts. Sometimes we see 20 or 30 minutes featuring various drills, and sometimes -- as was the case Tuesday when Alexander was in town -- we see 10 minutes of three-point shooting. So my take on Wednesday's workout certainly was influenced by access as we were allowed to watch a healthy portion of action.

But nonetheless, I left impressed with Augustin. And I doubt I was alone. Here's a snippet from a story that will appear in Thursday editions of The Oregonian:

... Augustin was equally, if not more, impressive than (Westbrook and Alexander). Toward the end of the workout, when the media was allowed to watch, Augustin displayed a polished, NBA-ready game that featured accurate shooting, smart play and natural ability to navigate through defenses -- particularly on pick-and-roll plays. He faced very little resistance in penetrating toward the basket and always seemed to find the open man, which often resulted in easy jump shots or layups.

During a three-on-three half-court drill, Augustin once knifed through two perimeter defenders and dished a pretty no-look pass to a teammate for a wide-open layup. Moments later, during an almost mirror scenario, he sliced through the middle of two defenders, darted right, stepped back and swished a midrange jumper.

Such displays were commonplace on Wednesday, when Augustin competed against five other prospects, including Oregon's Malik Hairston, Atlantic 10 Conference defensive player of the year Stanley Burrell of Xavier and guard Jason Rich, a four-year starter from Florida State. And even though McMillan values taller, more physical point guards, he discovered that Augustin could "hold his own" against bigger NBA guards.

"I tried to put a physical guard, a quick guard and a big guard on him just to take a look at all that ... and he did a nice job of getting where he needed to be," McMillan said. "The one thing he has is the ability to handle the ball very well. Even though some of the guards were trying to pressure him and get to the ball, his ability to handle the ball forced them to have to back off. But also his ability to shoot the ball forced them to stay pretty close. He's a guy who can get where he needs to go on the basketball floor."

Augustin also showed tremendous shooting ability, draining 37 of 50 shots (74 percent) -- including 26 of his first 30 attempts -- during a three-point shooting drill at the end of the workout.

It remains unclear what the Blazers are going to do on draft day and a trade is still a strong possibility. But this team needs point guard help and I bet Augustin -- perhaps the best true point guard in the draft outside of potential No. 1 pick Derrick Rose -- has at least forced the Blazers to picture him wearing red and black.

Justin Tyme

06-22-2008, 03:58 PM

IIRC, Otis Smith isn't real sold on Nelson. I get the impression that he'd rather have another PG running the team than Nelson.

I don't want Augustin, and I hope he's not available when Bird goes to pick. I want Speights at 11 and not Augustin. If Bird "has" to draft a PG, trade down and draft Chalmers.

Anthem

06-22-2008, 06:01 PM

I thought this was an interesting article about Augustin's workout with the blazers..

Give Augustin 4 full years and he might have won the Naismith Award as well. He also played in a much harder conference which makes his stats all the more impressive.

You are probably right about Nelson being stronger and (slightly) more athletic but I think Augustin's court vision and quickness are better than Nelsons are.

well, nelson did win naismith freshman of the year as well as player of the year during his career. sure he may have been in a weaker conference, but nelson also led his undefeated st. joe's team to within seconds of the final four on a 2 player team and provided his team with many more accomplishments than what augustin has on loaded texas teams who always underachieved.

Roaming Gnome

06-22-2008, 07:09 PM

Fellas, help me out here...

What is so bad about Augustin being our point guard other then his size and alledged lack of defense? I say alledged because no matter how bad it is, he has to give better effort on D then a certain guy that isn't in our future plans. It seems like every article I read about the guy is singing his praises, or saying is defense is serviceable, but a lot of posters feel that he is pretty much a mistake waiting to happen to the Blue n' Gold on draft day.

Fill me in, I didn't watch a lot of college hoops nor much of the tournament this year...what am I missing on this guy that has a lot of you praying he is off the board before we're up.

Infinite MAN_force

06-22-2008, 07:19 PM

I just don't think he has a particularly high ceiling, and he is a poor fit with the players we have. He is basically a better version of Travis Diener. Great jumpshooter and PG skills, undersized, potential defensive liability.

He also got totally outplayed by Derrick Rose during the tournament.

I think there are more interesting PG prospects in trades, or even later in the draft. At least better fits. I think Augustin could be good on the right team, I hope Portland drafts him because I think he would be a great fit there splitting time with someone like Jarret Jack.

Justin Tyme

06-22-2008, 07:45 PM

What is so bad about Augustin being our point guard other then his size and alledged lack of defense?

What more reasons do you need?

Naptown_Seth

06-22-2008, 10:36 PM

Fellas, help me out here...

What is so bad about Augustin being our point guard other then his size and alledged lack of defense? I say alledged because no matter how bad it is, he has to give better effort on D then a certain guy that isn't in our future plans. It seems like every article I read about the guy is singing his praises, or saying is defense is serviceable, but a lot of posters feel that he is pretty much a mistake waiting to happen to the Blue n' Gold on draft day.

Fill me in, I didn't watch a lot of college hoops nor much of the tournament this year...what am I missing on this guy that has a lot of you praying he is off the board before we're up.
Over in the prospect thread my main ongoing issue with him and Collison (UCLA) was their quickness to fall back on their own scoring. For all that raving by the Oregonian, DJ at Texas often DID NOT find his teammates because he was forcing his own jump shot. Collison's thing was the dribble drive ala Best, but the point is the same. Sure DJ had less talent overall than Collison, but he wasn't a one-man team either. Abrams, also smaller, was a terrific off the ball guard and very capable.

In the loss to Memphis DJ went 4 of 18 and a good portion of those were long after he should have realized that he needed to stop trying to be the hero. Perhaps it's a maturity thing but 3 assists to 18 FGAs in a key game vs a serious PG opponent is a red flag. The more pressure his team faced the more he tried to take over.

Add to this his defense and size and you worry. Of course he looked polished on PnRs, that's his thing. Texas punished people with him in the PnR. I have no questions about his ability there and would expect that to look great in a workout. But it wasn't just chance that this went away when he faced Rose. You saw Rose get physical with him and their team defense took away some of the base PnR stuff. Faced with going to something else he seemed to get really flustered and unsure of how to handle things.

Down the stretch TX lost 3 times - TTech, KS, Memphis. In those games DJ shot 24 shots, 18 and 18. Vs Tech he made plenty too, but still that's 24 freaking FGAs and only 3 assists. 7-18 vs KS is okay and he did have 9 assists there, but it fits with the other 2 losses in a pattern of "give me the ball all the time" when frustrated.

And btw, Chalmers going against him when he was 7-18 with 9 assists? Mario went 10-15 (30 points, led both teams) with 6 assists himself. Defensive questions. Which would you rather have, DJ at 11 or Mario at 20th?

MAYBE those losses were a learning experience. Maybe his scoring will be there at an NBA level. Maybe his defense will improve enough. If so then he's going to look like a steal at 11, and if not it's going to be a mistake.

jeffg-body

06-22-2008, 11:39 PM

I would have to go with Gordon if he drops that far. Best available player theory hits here. Drop Tinsley anyway you can right away. Start him out and let him, struggle a bit. Bring in a good PG coach and the kid will look real good in two years with practice and frequent on court experience.

Anthem

06-22-2008, 11:58 PM

I would have to go with Gordon if he drops that far. Best available player theory hits here.
No doubt. Not sure he's a PG, though.